Black Bat
Cassandra Cain is the daughter of David Cain, and raised from birth as an assassin. This is not commonly known knowledge by any means but those who have personally encountered her at best. She is a close friend of Barbara Gordon and often a roommate with her. Black Bat is a silent martial artist who prowls Gotham city, primarily Bludhaven. Associated as a part timer with the Birds of Prey, also known for dancing between bullets and that shooting her is useless. Background Cassandra Cain is the daughter of Lady Shiva and David Cain. David Cain, one of the most accomplished assassins in the world, wished to leave himself an heir to teach his vast degree of skills to, and even better them, to leave himself a legacy. He was inspired by a lecture by a neuro-sociologist, Lewis Friedman, of how training one from birth to the ignorance of all else could be used to make a weapon who devoted their entire essence to the art of war. Cain's first attempts at this failed, so he went to seek out someone with superior genetic conditioning. Lady Shiva. Lady Shiva was fascinated by the concept, and a deal was struck where the daughter the two had was abandoned to Cain's care and training, with Shiva intent on taking her pound of flesh from the girl far later in her life. Cassandra was raised in the arts of combat virtually from birth, as soon as her mind was sufficiently advanced to take in information and hold it. She was never allowed to interact with anyone who would talk, socialize with her, or give her training in anything beyond the arts of combat. From this, her entire life was devoted to honing her combat abilities with no other experiences. Cain's training was brutal. She did not hear a spoken word until she was six, she was randomly ambushed and shot while she tried to play to teach her to always focus on her surroundings, and she was given no real semblance of moral support or approval from her father, though in David Cain's own way he was proud of her. When she was nine, David Cain put her in a dress and pigtails, and sent her on her first assassination mission. Cassandra did as she was programmed and tore her target's throat out. But, ironically it backfired. Cassandra had no concept of death, and was horrified at what she had done. She fled, and ironically for a girl he had trained from stealth since birth, she hid so well that even her father could not find her. And so Cassandra spent the next several years on the run and in hiding, for a girl that had no records in existence of her and who could not talk, she wandered like a Ronin, leaving no trace of her existence and no memories of her passing, doing nothing to stand out as anything other than a homeless girl wandering the streets. When she was fifteen, she came to Gotham City. And here, she would end up staying. Gotham had just been cut off from the outside world due to a massive earthquake that had struck the city, and here Cassandra was isolated. She was recruited by Barbara Gordon as a runner in Gotham, and quickly became one of Barbara's best agents. Barbara become fond of her, and Cassandra considered Barbara a friend. A first for the girl. Barbara tried to teach her things, but due to the way Cassandra's brain was wired, she could not pick up most of what Barbara tried to show her. And at this point, David Cain reentered her life. David Cain was intent on targeting Barbara, employed as a Hit Man by Two-Face. He and Cassandra brawled repeatedly, Cassandra willing to die to protect her friend, and David unable to kill his daughter. Ultimately, Batman interfered and saved Cassandra and realized who she was, even when she had no idea; David Cain's daughter. Having figured out who she was, Batman was able to improvise a system to communicate with Cassandra by sparring. Her first operation was ending the contract that Two Face had put on Barbara. After this, Batman gradually adopted her as one of his core group of operatives in Gotham until the No Man's Land crisis ended. Eventually Barbara gave Cassandra her blessing to take on her old mantle of Batgirl. Batman's first issues with Cassandra were helping to heal the girl of her guilt complex and suicidal tendencies, trying to help break her of her association that having killed and being made purely as a weapon by David Cain, she was a bad person. He was able to help break her of this, but her guilt complex would always drive Cassandra harder than anything else, always waiting to resurface. As one of Batman's operatives, Cassandra began to grow into her own name as Batgirl, but had little association beyond going out on patrol ceaselessly and training. As Tim Drake began to move over to cover the city of Bludhaven, Batgirl went with him, acting much as his sidekick and support structure. While in Bludhaven he taught her as best he could basic detective skills and helped her associate with people. Over this time, Cassandra grew emotionally close to the Bat-Family, them being her 'true' family, and giving her a sense of belonging and purpose. Cassandra grew to be close friends with Stephanie Brown as well, the girl called Spoiler. While initially dismissive, through sheer force of will Spoiler was able to impress Cassandra and get her to train the girl, and the two operated as partners quite regularly, with Batgirl often nerve pinching her when the duo were out of their league. Around this time, David Cain, outraged, attempted to destroy Cassandra's association with Batman by sending Bruce a videotape of the time she murdered a man. Deep in denial, Batman tried to prove it was a fake, but ultimately was forced to come to terms with the fact he had been harboring a murderer. However, in doing so Batman was able to help Cassandra face some of her deepest emotional traumas - she had only been a child, raised with no concept of right and wrong and as a weapon, and was instantly horrified by what she had done and run away. In doing so, Cassandra was able to ease some of the guilt she had carried with her and strengthen her bond with Batman. Eventually, Cassandra felt that Stephanie was acting too irrational to be worthy of her training, and Stephanie moved on to a mentorship with Batman. Batgirl's prognostication may have been incorrect, as Stephanie's drive to prove herself resulted in a massive civil war among Gotham's street gangs in the War Games, with Stephanie barely managing to stay alive. In a coma, the girl recovering by virtue of her own stubbornness, Cassandra has been unsure since of whether to forgive her friend for what her emotions say was a betrayal, but that her mind and logic have disagreed strongly with. So, Batgirl has been operating since then mostly on her own, working with the rest of the Bat-Family and Birds of Prey as needed, but mostly operating on her own and obsessively training as always rather than confront her own confusion. And with her past waiting in the background, ready to strike when she least expected it.. Lady Shiva, ready to collect her pound of flesh. Personality Loyal: Cassandra Cain is devoted to her friends and her goals. She truly will die for them regardless of circumstances, and her dedication to them is immense. They are her family, and to her friends she will be a devoted Bulldog. You can't choose your family, but you can choose your friends. And Cassandra has chosen the Batfamily as her's. For those she is emotionally close to, Cassandra can be almost smothering in her degree of protectiveness and emotional resonance. Honesty: Cassandra is blindingly honest and blunt in a sense. She can read most people the way someone does a book with her abilities, and she can peer into their soul, in a sense. Cassandra is very direct and up front. She can get out only the most minimal of expressions, so she makes the most of them. She respects honesty and directness, and has little sense of self-restraint or subtlety, and in her own way is blindingly direct and blunt. Atoner: Cassandra is motivated by her wish to atone for what she had done as a child, and to make up for the wrongs she has committed in her lifetime. She pushes herself to her limits, but she is mostly motivated by guilt, sometimes over for extremes, to make up for her actions. Perfectionist: Cassandra is very much a perfectionist with her abilities and her goals. She has no real capacity to indulge in relaxation or social times, and will always be pushing herself harder. If she is not on patrol, she will be training. If she is not in costume, she will be prowling the streets on an investigation. If there is someone better, she will be training herself to match them. Cassandra will never be 'good enough' in her own mind, and will always be pushing herself to increase her limits, no matter the personal toll on herself. Loner: Cassandra works with others, but most of the time she operates on her own. While she is almost clingingly close to her friends and her adopted family, she is in a way ashamed of her inabilities to interact, and this is something she cannot overcome with her training. So, Cassandra spends most of her time alone, whether working a case in the streets or focusing herself. Silent: While she can speak, she has a very limited capacity to, being able to only with effort and focus to get out two or three words at a time. Cassandra is locked within the world of non-verbal communication, but she has no sense of people or how she herself displays, so she always must get her point across with her body and reading others. Arrogant: Cassandra considers herself the best at what she does. She's a martial artist without peer (or so in her own mind). And while she often cannot communicate this directly, Cassandra gets the point across. She's sure of herself and her abilities, and that there are few who can top her. Should her own inabilities at something (such as fighting) be displayed to her, she would be devastated and non-comprehensive, and be obsessive about regaining her superiority. As such, she can often be somewhat competitive with showcasing her own abilities and is overly sure of herself. Then again, she has quite good reason to be! Logs First Player's Logs *2013-01-19 - Halal Food and the KKK - Karen Starr and Pete Wisdom talk. Cassandra snoops. A KKK drive-by! *2013-04-03 - Jokerbots Wild - A baseball game is interrupted by the Joker with his new toys - six deadly jokerbots. Birds of Prey to the rescue! *2013-04-09 - Bat-Chat - The Bat-Signal flashes across the night sky of Gotham, and Batgirl responds, and has a heart to heart with James Gordon, with few words being spoken. *2013-05-15 - Sixteen Birds in Five Fighting Rings: Part 1 - Croc Hunters - Catwoman and the Birds of Prey investigate teen disappearances. Daggett and Killer Croc involved? *2013-05-21 - Sixteen Birds in Five Fighting Rings: Part 3 - Showdown in Gotham - It's a major fight when members of the Birds of Prey join up with Commissioner Gordon to take down Roulette and Daggett's underground kidnapping fighting ring! *2013-09-07 - Six For Three - The Sinister Six decides to make some profit in Gotham City. And they thought Spider-Man was a pain, they haven't met THE QUESTION! (GG: 2013-09-07 - Sinister Six Shanghaied) *2013-09-20 - Hat Boss - The Birds of Prey follow up on Oracle's hunch about the Falcone Crime Family, and get more than they bargained for! *2013-09-23 - Babysitting - Morning breakfast is interrupted when Bruce hears from Oracle...he has a son! *2013-09-24 - Family Reunion, My Son - After discovering the existence of Talia's son, Batman is determined to rescue him even from himself. *2013-10-04 - Chemical Warfare: What is Weakness - Damian is stolen away from Bruce, and Savage has made his move. With no bars hold, Batman throws himself into protecting his family and city, even going so far as to actually ask for help. *2013-10-20 - Nerd is the Word - The Birds of Prey go into an ambush by the Cold and Clinical Calculator with their archenemy Prometheus and it all adds fuel to the fire! *2013-10-26 - Do Not Give Up - Drake returns home finally and finds the house full. After the drama, Bruce attempts another heart-to-heart with his son. *2013-12-11 - Bird Fly Free - Stephanie Brown returns to Gotham and encounters Cassandra. The two reunite, and Cassandra passes along the mantle of Batgirl to Stephanie. *2014-01-05 - A Cold Night for Crime - Some Gotham muggers have a very bad night when they try to rob the wrong superheroes. NPC'ed Logs *2014-02-14 - The Awakening: Now It Begins... - Red Hood makes his first 'visit', choosing Oracle for it. Second Player's Logs *2014-05-02 - Bludhaven Bloodbath - It starts with Starfire's cookies. It ends in a bloodbath. For a change, it's not the fault of Starfire's cookies. Gallery Batgirl2.jpg batgirlcass.jpg Category:DC Feature Category:DC Hero Category:Gotham Category:DC Available